Starfish brooch

This large gold, ruby, and amethyst starfish brooch was designed by Juliette Moutard in 1935 for the French house of René Boivin and was fabricated in 1937. René Boivin founded his jewelry house in the 1890s, but after his death, in 1917, his wife Jeanne Boivin took the reins. The jeweler had close ties to the world of haute couture fashion, as Jeanne was the couturier Paul Poiret’s sister. The house of Boivin was known for its natural motifs in jewelry, and designs by Moutard are especially reflective of this design theme. The starfish is incredibly lifelike in both its scale and its movement. With many small hinges, the starfish flexes in the same way the marine creatures does. Intended to be worn on the shoulder of a tailored jacket or dress, the gold and bejeweled legs hug the curves of the body. Vogue described it as an “important” jewel even at the time of its creation, and Boivin reflected, later in her career, that it was her favorite design that the firm had ever produced.

The starfish brooch is the quintessential Boivin jewel and is important for both its exceptional modern design and impeccable craftsmanship. The first of four unique ruby and amethyst examples that were made under Boivin and Moutard’s direction, this is the premiere design and belonged to the actress Claudette Colbert, who purchased it just a two years after winning the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in "It Happened One Night." Colbert was a tastemaker at the height of her career, and the brooch was illustrated four times in Vogue; there is a wonderful image of Colbert wearing it on a Persian lamb coat in Photoplay in November 1939 and a more candid photograph by Alfred Eisenstaedt, taken in 1937, where Colbert is wearing the brooch pinned to the collar of her dress.